WASHINGTON - July 23 - As the presidential campaigns focus on the coveted undecided vote during the last three months before the November election, they would be well advised to focus on women voters, according to leading women's groups. Today, more women than men are undecided about who they will vote for in the presidential election, a review of recent national and state polls prepared by Votes for Women 2004 shows.

Women outnumbered men among undecided likely voters in a number of national polls released recently, including:

-- Women are 65 percent of undecided voters nationwide, according to the George Washington University's Battleground 2004 Poll conduced June 20-23 (n equals 1,000) by Lake, Snell, Perry || Associates and the Tarrance Group. See: http://www.lspa.com/polls/Battleground2004C.htm

-- Women make up 58 percent of swing voters, according to a June 3-13 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press (n equals 1,426). Swing voters in the survey are defined as registered voters who are either undecided or have said they may change their mind about who they will vote for in the presidential election. See: http://people-press.org/reports

The gender gap among undecided voters extends into key battleground states:

-- In Pennsylvania, women are 57 percent of the undecided voters, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll of registered voters (n equals 1,577) conducted July 6-11. See: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x11661.xml

-- Similarly, women are 57 percent of undecided Florida voters, according to a July 13-15 American Research group poll (n equals 600 voters). The firm found a similar gender gap among undecided voters in other battleground states including Michigan (where 62 percent of undecided voters are women), New Mexico (69 percent undecideds are women), and West Virginia (70 percent are undecideds women). See: http://www.americanresearchgroup.com

As part of a non-partisan effort to engage women this election season, key women's organizations including the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, Feminist Majority, National Council of Women's Organizations, National Organization for Women, and The White House Project have joined to monitor women's voting trends and release occasional gender watch reports. The findings on undecided voters are based on gender data from recent polls provided by the polling firms listed above. The review was coordinated by CCMC, Communications Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC.

Experts available to discuss the power of the women's vote in the presidential election:

-- Deborah Walsh, Director; Susan Carroll, Senior Scholar; Center for American Women and Politics; Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University; Walsh's Phone: 732-932-9384 ext. 227; Carroll's Phone: 732-932-9384 ext. 235; Web: http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu

-- Celinda Lake; Lake, Snell, Perry || Associates; Phone: 202- 776-9066; Web: http://www.lspa.com

-- Eleanor Smeal, President; Feminist Majority; Phone: 703- 522-2214; Web: http://www.feminist.org or http://www.getouthervotes.org

-- Martha Burk, Chair; National Council of Women's Organizations; Phone: 202-393-7122, Cell: 202-247-1300; Web: http://www.womensorganizations.org

-- Kim Gandy, President; Jenny Thalheimer, Press Secretary; National Organization for Women; Phone: 202-628-8669; Cell: 202- 641-1906; Web: http://www.now.org

-- Marie Wilson, President; Vivian Todini, Communications Director; The White House Project; Wilson's cell: 917-453-3533; Todini's cell: 917-747-7980; http://www.VoteRunLead.org

-- Irene Natividad, Chair; WomenVote USA; Phone: 202-835-3713; Web: http://www.usaVoteNet.com

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